Flexible and affordable
Mies van der Rohe Award 2022 goes to Grafton and Lacol
Town House, Kingston University London, © Dennis Gilbert
The winners of the EU Mies van der Rohe Award 2022 have been proclaimed! The European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe have named the new campus building at London’s Kingston University as this year’s winning project, for the first time distinguishing a university building. The architects behind the structure known as the Town House, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects in Dublin, were last year’s winners of the Pritzker Prize.
© Ed Reeve
The new Town House serves the university as a central entrance building that brings students together and will bundle hitherto scattered functions under one roof. With a usable area of 9,400 m² and seven levels, the building will house not only a library and spaces for dancing and studying, but also an archive and a covered, three-storey inner courtyard that can be used as an event venue.
Open platforms and ceiling-high glazing create angles of view between the individual levels of the building. Flexibility takes centre stage here: where spaces begin and end in this structure is never clearly defined. Tables and chairs can be moved together anywhere and at any time in the new spatial arrangement. The vibrancy inside the Town House is demonstrated even in its urban environment by a concrete structure that protrudes towards the outdoors and a shell of recycled bricks. The jury afforded particular praise for the remarkable environmental quality of the structure, which creates an excellent ambience for studying, dancing, gathering and togetherness.
© Ed Reeve
The Emerging Architect distinction of the Mies van der Rohe Award 2022 goes to the young architects’ cooperative Lacol arquitectura for their affordable cooperative housing building La Borda, which is one of Spain’s largest wooden structures and stands in Barcelona. Ever since tenants first moved into the 28 apartments, the building has won many international prizes. In fact, Lacol’s working methods have influenced the formation of new cooperativas in Barcelona on the part of clients and planners alike. You can read a comprehensive documentation on La Borda in Detail 3.2022 and in our databank Detail Inspiration.
© Lluc Miralle
© Lluc Miralle
Since 1988, the Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture has been conferred biennially to current European architecture projects. The prize honours high-quality, contemporary architecture. The award ceremony will take place on 12 May at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona.
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